Spray paint

Is this stuff supposed to match the paint on the car? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I managed to stick a deep 3 inch scratch into my nearest front wheel arch parking into my parent's garage. I cleaned it up, built it up with primer, and then sprayed it with about 4 thin layers of Mauritius blue spray paint from the dealer - of course after working down the primer to a smoothish finish. I've also worked down the paint with fine wet and dry for a smooeth finish. But the result is the mauritius blue is, well see for yourselves:

Do I need to T cut it to bring a shine to it? Will lacquer solve the mis-match issue? Or do I need to face facts, that a spray paint will never match the factory paint on a car? Avus Silver matched my wheels perfectly when I repaired them, so why not the body?

Any suggestions (other than, keep the day job and get a professional in /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif) gratefully received.

Thanks. I went nuts though - took the whole thing off and started again: I'm a bit of a perfectionist / obsessive!

I'm sure I can get it perfectly flat and then apply the paint on a thinner strip and then feather it out. Plus apply the paint a little thicker, as I need the thickness to work back to a flat finish before the lacquer. That's the theory. A few more goes and surely it will be perfect. Even the experts weren't born like it!

I've redone it, and will post pics in due course. But it isn't how I expected. Why doesn't the spray paint match? It's a standard factory colour, so why is it so far off.

I've been apply very light coats, and feathering it outwards as I go - moving the masking tape further out as which reach coat. Although it blends in quite nicely, the colour is still miles off the original. The same is true for the dolphin grey spray paint I used to repair my father's car - it's duller and lighter.

Should I be applying a heavy coat instead and then working down the edges? That's nearer what I did with the wheels, and they came out near perfect.

Just because it is a standard factory colour does not necessarily mean it will match. My family runs a bodyshop, and each factory colour may still have 2/3 different tones, which will only be matched by a good spray painter if that helps.

Halfords mix paint on the spot (somthing like £13 for 500ml). And there are few internet companies that mix according the manufacturer's code and post it to you (about the same price). Anybody with experience of them? I'm guessing the colour will be the same. At least its more for your money - the 250ml can you get from Audi (plus lacquer) is £11.20.

Still though - the manufacturers code does not been that the match will be correct. Ive got the same colour of car as you. If I remember, Ill look at our mixing data on Monday when I am in work. It is most likely that there will be about 3/4 different variations of the mauritaus blue factory colour. When we mix, we have to do tone cards and then pick the best match from that. There are all sorts of reasons why there are so many matches and paint mixing is becoming a complete nightmare. Our painter is one of the best in the business, and I mean that honestly.

Many bodyshops now have one experienced spray painter who simply spends all day matching colours - it really is getting that bad.

So all Im trying to say is I wouldnt trust the mix from Halfords or any internet company.

I dont really know the true explanation mate, it gets complicated. I think it comes down to different productions runs etc. You would not notice it if you compared two cars of the same colour, but when you put a different tone on a car, its quite noticeable.

I remember a few weeks ago, we had to paint a silver mondeo - there were NINE different variations of the same paint code.

Luckily we have a system which is pretty good and accurate, its just a pest trying to actually match it.

Sorry, dont really know any bodyshops down South. We are only an independent in Edinburgh so we dont really have any connections at all. I guess you just need to put a word around and find out a good place.

Basically, he said Halfords etc do not give an exact match. It is very difficult to get an exact match, as it depends on the formulation in the factory, and how much paint is used on the car - this can vary in each batch hence the different tones.

On our system, there are two different variations of the mautitaus blue colour, with two shades. Each are classed under the same paint code.That makes four different possibilities. He said that they would start with the base colour, spray it on a testing card then tone it based on whether it is lighter or not.

Finally, our paint company also produces formulations which on site technicans match when bodyshops encounter difficulties - we found another two of them.

So I guess all Im saying is that you are not going to get an exact match by using the methods you have. The panel will also need to be blended as well.

So, even if I take my car to a company like yours to give me the best chance of matching the paint, it will still only be passable unless I paint a larger area to allow blending which the naked eye would not be able to resolve.

I think I've managed a reasonable job now (only took 6 goes and 150ml of paint!). It was a 1mm wide gash, and the painted area is more like 40mm to allow a decent amount of blending.

I also got some brown primer instead of ligt grey, which means I didn't have to use so many layers of paint, which may have helped.

I tried just painting the scratched area (after filling with primer), but that was far worse.

Perhaps if I'm bored over the summer, I'll try blending over a larger area and see what results.

IMO you'll never get a metallic or pearl to match exactly when patched. So much depends on not only the colour match but also the type and angle of spray gun used. The metallic particles extit the gun nozzle at a certain angle and are different for each spray gun, sprayer and spray method. The paint will reflect differently due to the met particles being at a different angle to the surrounding paint.
The only way for it to look right is to paint the whole panel. A PITA but the only way!

Thanks guys. When the dealer out a minor scratch in my driver's door - 3cm long, a couple of tenths of a mil wide and deep - I wondered why they resprayed the whole door. Now I know! Although, I haven't noticed a mismatch between the door and the surrounding bodywork, which is lucky.

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